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For he calls men to judgment, showing the justice of the punishment, and that they endure it from themselves. For he himself, inflicting punishment, does it for salvation, either that we might be saved by repenting, or that we might fall into a lighter judgment than the one to come. And in punishing those from Edom, he was sufficient for himself, needing no one to be his ally. For by a word he destroys, and his will alone is sufficient, and when God willed to wipe them out, there was nothing to help them. For there was not a righteous man among them able to entreat God. ζιθʹ. 9I remembered the mercy of the Lord; the virtues of the Lord, in all things in which the Lord repays us. The Lord is a good judge to the house of Israel; he brings upon us according to his mercy, and according to the multitude of his righteousness. And he said, Are not my people children? They shall not be rejected. And he became for them salvation from all their affliction. Not an envoy, nor an angel, but he himself saved them9, etc. The things concerning the second coming of Christ have been fulfilled, and he passes on to another subject, in which the people accuses itself, that having sinned against God, their benefactor from above, it has been cast off. But according to others, when God spoke of his wrath against the disobedient, the prophet does not allow them to proceed to despair, since God is a lover of mankind. And according to others, in response to the multitude of good things shown to the prophet, among which was also the wrath against the foreigners, since they did not show gratitude toward God, he himself recounts the mercy of God from above. For I will not forget, even if grim things came upon us in the end, and we were cast off. But instead of, in all things in which he repays us, Symmachus has said, concerning all the things in which he has benefited us, and instead of, A good judge; from the multitude of his goodness. However, not as a precise judge does he measure the wrath against us by our offenses, mixing it with goodness. For being the height of justice he does not leave the guilty unpunished, but with goodness he tames his anger. For the 2673 remnant has been saved. And the greatest sign of his goodness is that he deigned to call the people children, if they did not reject the grace. Therefore according to Symmachus it is said: Nevertheless, they are my people, sons who do not break the covenant. Whom he reproved in the beginning, saying: I have begotten and raised up sons; but they have rejected me. For it was necessary to obey the father as children, and to receive the Son, present as his own messenger for salvation, not having used some other servant; for he was not an envoy, [he says] a prophet, not an angel. And in Egypt, they say, even if Moses was the intermediary, yet He himself performed the greatest things through him. And to those who made the calf he threatened to send an angel to lead them. And when Moses was distressed, He himself promised to lead. And he made his own coming, not in order to judge, although he is a judge, but that to those who confess their sins he might grant forgiveness through faith. For he wishes us also to be causes of good things for ourselves, and not to become causes of the opposite. Therefore, he said the faith of the woman with the issue of blood was the cause of her healing. For as far as it depended on him, as a father to his children he is disposed to the provision of good things, extending his perpetual mercy, unless someone should interrupt it by sinning. Such, then, are the things of his love for mankind. But not having given him a reason for their own salvation, they drew him into war. For as David also says: "How often did they provoke him in the wilderness? they angered him in a waterless land." And they also angered the spirit of Christ, being sick with disobedience. Therefore he became an enemy. For so that they might not ascribe the punishment brought upon them to demons, it is said that he himself made war on them. For Job too, although he knew the afflictions came from the devil, does not mention him, but ascribes them to God who permitted them. And he made war on the people, taking into mind the former things, and how they were not the first to have become such. For instance, having experienced so much beneficence through wonders by means of Moses, they turned away from the one responsible and made a calf, not considering how, having cut the Red Sea, he led them through it as a horse, having set Moses over them as a shepherd over sheep, having exalted him through signs. For this is to "bring up," that is, having made manifest him who was hidden and

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γὰρ ἀνθρώπους εἰς κρίσιν καλεῖ, τὸ δίκαιον τῆς τιμωρίας ἐπιδεικνύμενος, καὶ ὡς ἐξ ἑαυτῶν ὑπομένουσιν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ δίκην ἐπάγων ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας ποιεῖ, ἢ ἵνα σωθῶμεν μετανοήσαντες, ἢ περιπέσωμεν κουφοτέρᾳ τῇ κρίσει τοῦ μέλλοντος. Τιμωρούμενος δὲ τοὺς ἐξ Ἐδὼμ ἤρκει ἑαυτῷ μηδενὸς συμμαχοῦντος δεόμενος. Λόγῳ γὰρ ἀναιρεῖ, καὶ ἱκανὸν αὐτοῦ μόνον τὸ θέλημα, ἐξαλεῖψαι δὲ αὐτοὺς βουλομένου Θεοῦ, οὐκ ἦν τι βοηθοῦν αὐτοῖς. Οὐκ ἦν γὰρ ἐν αὐτοῖς δίκαιος δυσωπῆσαι δυνάμενος τὸν Θεόν. ζιθʹ. 9Τὸν ἔλεον Κυρίου ἐμνήσθην· τὰς ἀρετὰς Κυρίου, ἐν πᾶσιν οἷς Κύριος ἡμῖν ἀνταποδίδωσι. Κύριος κριτὴς ἀγαθὸς τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπάγει ἡμῖν κατὰ τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ, καὶ κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ. Καὶ εἶπεν, Οὐχ ὁ λαός μου τέκνα; Οὐ μὴ ἀθετηθῶσι. Καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτοῖς εἰς σωτηρίαν ἐκ πάσης θλίψεως αὐτῶν. Οὐ πρέσβυς, οὐδὲ ἄγγελος, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ἔσωσεν αὐτοὺσ9, κ.τ.λ. Τὰ περὶ τῆς δευτέρας τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας πεπλήρωται, καὶ μέτεισιν εἰς ἑτέραν ὑπόθεσιν, ἐν ᾗ κατηγορεῖ ἑαυτοῦ ὁ λαὸς, ὡς εἰς ἄνωθεν εὐεργέτην τὸν Θεὸν ἡμαρτηκὼς ἀποβέβληται. Καθ' ἑτέρους δὲ, Θεοῦ τὴν κατὰ τῶν ἠπιθηκότων εἰπόντος ὀργὴν, ὁ προφήτης οὐκ ἐᾷ χωρεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς ἀπόγνωσιν, φιλανθρώπου τυγχάνοντος τοῦ Θεοῦ. Κατ' ἄλλους δὲ, πρὸς τὸ πλῆθος τῶν δειχθέντων ἀγαθῶν τῷ προφήτῃ, ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ ἡ κατὰ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ὀργὴ, μὴ τὸ πρὸς Θεὸν ἐπιδειξαμένων εὐχάριστον, αὐτὸς διηγεῖται τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν ἄνωθεν ἔλεον. Οὐ γὰρ ἐπιλήσομαι, εἰ καὶ σκυθρωπὰ μετῆλθεν ἡμᾶς ἐν τέλει, καὶ ἀπεβλήθημεν. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, ἐν ἅπασιν οἷς ἀνταποδίδωσιν ἡμῖν, ὁ Σύμμαχος, περὶ πάντων ὧν εὐηργέτησεν ἡμᾶς, εἴρηκε, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ, Κριτὴς ἀγαθός· ἐκ πλήθους ἀγαθωσύνης. Πλὴν οὐχ ὡς κριτὴς ἀκριβὴς παραμετρεῖ τὴν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ὀργὴν τοῖς πλημμελήμασιν, ἀγαθότητι ταύτην κιρνῶν. Ἀκρότης μὲν γὰρ ὢν δικαιοσύνης οὐκ ἀθώους ἐᾷ, ἀγαθότητι δὲ τὸν θυμὸν ἡμεροῖ. Σέσωσται γὰρ τὸ κατά 2673 λειμμα. ∆εῖγμα δὲ μέγιστον τῆς ἀγαθότητος, τὸ ἀξιῶσαι τέκνα καλεῖν τὸν λαὸν, εἰ μὴ ἀθετοῖεν τὴν χάριν. ∆ιὸ κατὰ Σύμμαχον εἴρηται· Πλὴν λαός μού εἰσιν υἱοὶ οὐκ ἀσυνθηκοῦντες. Οὓς ἀπήλεγχεν ἐν ἀρχῇ λέγων· Υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα, καὶ ὕψωσα· αὐτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν. Ἐχρῆν γὰρ ὡς τέκνα πείθεσθαι τῷ πατέρι, καὶ αὐτάγγελον ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ παρόντα δέξασθαι τὸν Υἱὸν, οὐχ ἑτέρῳ τινὶ διακόνῳ χρησάμενον· οὐ γὰρ ἦν πρέσβυς, [φησὶ] προφήτης, οὐκ ἄγγελος. Καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δὲ, φασὶν, εἰ καὶ μέσος ἦν Μωσῆς, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ἐνήργει δι' ἐκείνου τὰ μέγιστα. Καὶ μοσχοποιήσασιν ἠπείλησεν ἄγγελον πέμψειν τὸν ἡγησάμενον. Καὶ δυσφοροῦντος Μωσέως, αὐτὸς ἡγεῖσθαι κατεπηγγείλατο. Καὶ αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν παρουσίαν, οὐχ ἵνα κρίνῃ, πεποίηται, καίτοι κριτὴς ὢν, ἀλλ' ἵνα τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὁμολογήσουσι παράσχῃ τὴν ἄφεσιν διὰ πίστεως. Θέλει γὰρ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἑαυτοῖς ἀγαθῶν αἰτίους, καὶ μὴ τῶν ἐναντίων καθίστασθαι. Τοιγαροῦν τῆς αἱμοῤῥοούσης τὴν πίστιν αἰτίαν ἔφησε τῆς ἰάσεως. Ὅσον γὰρ ἧκεν εἰς αὐτὸν, ὡς πατὴρ τέκνοις εἰς ἀγαθῶν πρόκειται χορηγίαν, διηνεκῆ προτείνων τὸν ἔλεον, πλὴν εἰ μή τις ἁμαρτῶν διακόψειεν. Τὰ μὲν οὖν τῆς αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπίας τοιαῦτα. Μὴ παρασχόντες δὲ πρόφασιν αὐτῷ τῆς ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίας, εἰς πόλεμον ἐπεσπάσαντο. Ὡς γάρ φησι καὶ ∆αβίδ· "Ποσάκις παρεπίκραναν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ; παρώργισαν αὐτὸν ἐν γῇ ἀνύδρῳ." Παρώργισαν δὲ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ, τὴν ἀπείθειαν νοσήσαντες. ∆ιὸ κατέστη πολέμιος. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ δαίμοσι τὴν ἐπαγομένην αὐτοῖς ἐπιγράφοιεν δίκην, αὐτὸς αὐτοῖς λέγεται πεπολεμηκέναι. Καὶ γὰρ Ἰὼβ, καίπερ εἰδὼς ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου γίνεσθαι τὰς ἐπαγωγὰς, αὐτοῦ μὲν οὐ μέμνηται, τῷ δὲ συγχωροῦντι ἐπιγράφει Θεῷ. Πεπολέμηκε δὲ τὸν λαὸν εἰς νοῦν τὰ πρῶτα λαβὼν, καὶ ὡς οὐ νῦν πρῶτοι τοιοῦτοι γεγόνασιν. Αὐτίκα, καὶ διὰ Μωσέως τοσαύτης πειραθέντες διὰ θαυμάτων εὐεργεσίας, τὸν αἴτιον ἀποστραφέντες ἐμοσχοποίησαν, μὴ σκοπήσαντες ὡς θάλατταν τεμὼν Ἐρυθρὰν, ὡς ἵππον, αὐτοὺς διὰ ταύτης διήγαγεν, ἐπιστήσας αὐτοῖς Μωσῆν, οἷα προβάτοις ποιμένα, διὰ τῶν σημείων ὑψώσας αὐτόν. Τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ἀναγαγεῖν, ἤγουν ἐμφανῆ καταστήσας λανθάνοντα καὶ